Crash Causes Power Problems at Farmers’ Market

SCRANTON — After a car crashed into a utility pole early Friday morning in Scranton, power was knocked out causing headaches for people in the Weston Field section of the city. One place that lost power: the Scranton Farmer’s Market.

PPL officials said homes, businesses, and the Farmer’s Market had power restored by late Friday afternoon, but the morning didn’t go so smoothly.

Tara Kojsza showed up to her ice cream shop at the Scranton Farmer’s Market in shock. The power had gone out overnight and a lot of her product wasn’t fit to be sold.

“I was afraid I was going to have a lot of product loss, it’s Friday, it’s Farmer’s Market day, it was scary,” said Kojsza.

Though the Farmer’s Market on Barring Avenue was up and running, the electricity was not because early Friday morning a car hit a utility pole on Albright Avenue nearby. PPL got to work fast, but nearly 700 homes and business were without power. Police said the driver of the car may face DUI charges.

While many homes had power by daybreak, the Farmer’s Market went without for most of the day.

“We weren’t sure what we were going to do. For a while we weren’t even going to try to come, but then we have a large generator at the farm that runs all our refrigeration,” said vendor Ruth Griggs of Mountain Road Farms.

You might not think it, but some vendors really rely on electricity to keep their food fresh.

Some, like Griggs, brought in generators to make sure they stayed in business. Others got a little creative.

“I brought some chafing pans from home and I have food in the chafing pans getting warm, and we have some cold salads we can do. So, we’re improvising,” said Suzanne Drumsta of Country Cuisine Catering.

Drumsta said even though she was only able serve about 10% of all her food, it’s better than no business at all.

As the summer winds down, Farmer’s Market days get more and more important for these farmers.

“Friday is our biggest day, my truck is loaded to the back door. It would have been a major loss, but we would have bounced back,” added Griggs.

Despite the power outage, every Farmer’s Market stand was open Friday.